Half to edmund converse



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. N. CUTTER.

ICE CUTTING MACHINE.

Patented Feb. 28,1882.

' Wzfn55555= .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. N. CUTTER.

IGE CUTTING MACHINE. No. 254,431. Patented Feb. 28,1882.

/M.///M%U UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrc CHARLES N. CUTTER, or WORCESTER,MAssAonusETTs, ASSIGNOR or one HALF TO EDMUND CONVERSE, or SAME PLACE.

ICE-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,431, dated February28, 1882,

' Application filed July 23,1879.

1 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES N. CUTTER,

of the city and county of Worcester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forCutting Ice and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and inwhichi 1 Figure 1 represents a top or plan view of one of my aforesaidimproved ice-cutting machines. Fig. 2 represents a front side view ofsaid machine,lookingin the direction indicated by arrow 1, Fig. 1. Fig.3 represents a vertical section through a portion of the machine, takenon line A B, Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by arrow 2 ofthe same figure. Fig.4 represents a vertical section taken on the sameline, A B, as Fig. 3, but looking in the opposite direction, asindicated by arrow 3, Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 represent vertical sectionsof still other portions of the machine, taken on lines B G and O D, Fig.I, respectively, looking in the directionindicated by arrow 4 of thesame figure; and Fig. 7 represents a part end view of the machine,looking in the direction of arrows 5 5, Figs. 1 2111052. My inventionrelates to ice-cutting machines. 1n whlch a series of saws are mountedupon a horizontal shaft adapted to be rotated by belting from a steam-engine placed upon theframe -of the machine.

My invention consists in details of construction which will behereinafter described in connection with the drawings, and then clearlypointed out in the claims.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to makeand use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in ,detai In thedrawings, the parts marked E represent the frame-work, upon which themachine is arranged and secured. The saws F and G G are arrangedvertically, being secured to a horizontal shaft, H, which turns insuitable hearings in the lower ends of segment-pieces I I, the operationand purpose of which pieces will be hereinafter more fully described.

Upon the inner end of shaft H is secured a small spur-gear, J, whichmeshes into and is operated by a larger spur-gear, K, secured to of asteam-power engine so arranged and secured upon the machine that properconnection may be made with aforesaid drivingshaft L.

The two inner saws,G G, which are smaller in diameter than the outerone,-F, simply serve the purpose of markers, while F acts as a cutting-saw, and may be made of any desired diameter for cutting differentthicknesses of ice.

The cakes of ice may be cut of any desired size by simply changing theposition of the marking-saws G G upon shaft H, the size of said cakesbeing the width between the outer cutting-saw, F, and marking-saw G. Thepurpose of saw G is to cut a short distance into the cake, in order thatit may be more easily manipulated or broken up, preparatory to delivering the same to consumers. Two or more saws G, instead of one, maybe employed,..if

desired.

Saws F and G G may be raised and depressed, so as to obtain a greater orless out into the ice, and to allow of'the adjustment of the machinefrom one positionto another, in the following manner: Segment pieces II,

which are provided with spur-teeth .a, are tit ted loosely, so as toslide up and down in socket-pieces b b, which are secured in frameworkE. They are retained in their proper relative position laterally bymeans of narrow pieces 0 0 upon one side and slotted plates 11 d uponthe other. side, both being secured to the sides of frame-work E.

The segment-pieces I I are operated to slide up and down, so as to raiseand lower .the I V saws, by means ofa hand-crank, N, (secured to theupper end of an angular shaft, 0, arranged to turn in a bearing-piece,P, secured to frame-work E,) through worm-gear Q, (secured to the lowerend of shaft 0,) and spurgears R and S S, secured upon horizontal shaftT, which is arranged to turn in suitable bearings, T T, secured to thesides of frame work E.

The machine is propelled forward or back, as the case may be, by meansof a large toothed feed wheel, U, secured to shaft V, whichturns insuitable bearings, V V, secured to frame-work E. Said feed-wheel U issecured to aforesaid shaft V by the hub U of said wheel being keyed to ahub-piece, U secured upon shaft V. Upon said shaftV are also arrangedtwo bevel-gears,W W, which slide back and forth upon shaft V, but areprevented in this instance from turning upon the same by one side of theshaft being cutaway upon one side the distance that they are required toslide, and screws passed through the hubs of said gears and into suchcut-away places. The purpose of this arrangement is to reverse theaction of feed-wheel U, so as to movethe inachine backward or forward,as before stated,

- shaft L, which meshes into a spur-gear, Y secured to the shaft X ofaforesaid gear W Gear'Y inthisinstance is formed upon a coneshapedpiece, Z, upon which are also formed two other gears of different sizes,Y and Y The=purpose of this arrangement is to obtain a means of varyingthe speed of feed-wheel U,- so as to'propel the machine back andforthfaster or slower, as desired, by bringing agear of'smalleror-greater diameter into action with )1 worm-gear Y upon driving-shaftL, according to the speed desired to be given to said feedwheel U, asmaller gear being employed to obtaiii a greater speed, and vice versa.

number employed than in this instance, if desired. In'adjusting themachine so as toobtain a greater or less propelling-power, the

' rear end of frame-piece Y is first loosened upon its supporting-pieceY by turning screwf, when the frame-piece is then raised or swung up ashort distance, piece Y being slotted for the purpose, as representedat'g." The proper gear to produce the desired speed is then adjusted andsecured upon shaftX at the proper point to work with and receive theaction of worm-gear Y upon shaft L, when the framepiece Y is thenreadjusted and locked in the desired position upon its supporting-pieceY by means of screw f, and the machine thereby again prepared foroperation.

The forward end of frame-piece Y is pre vented from sliding sidewise byrings or collars' h h, secured at each side of the same to shaft V.Bevelgears W W in this instance are' moved laterally upon shaft V, soas'to bring one or the other into action with bevelgear W as beforeexplained, by being connected with a sliding rod, It, which maybe slidback and forth in suitable bearing-pieces, l l, secured to frame-work E.Said connection is made by means of forked pieces m m, which are securedat one end to aforesaid sliding rod 70, while theirother forked ends, ata, fit into slots 0 0, formed around the hubs p p of said bevel-gears WW. Thus they may be moved and held laterally without in the leastretarding their rotary motion, and with said sliding rod may be combineda shipper-lever, arranged to be locked, tohold either of its gears inmesh with gear W or both of them out of mesh therewith.

Bearings V V, as will be seen by Fig. 6 of the drawings,are arranged andconstructed so that shaft V and the parts connected thereto may beallowed to give or spring up slightly by arranging spiral or othersuitable springs, q q, in hollow capping-pieces r 1", which bearupon thetop of pieces 8 s, in which the ends The pressure of said spi-- of saidshaft turns. ral springs q q upon the top of bearing-pieces s 8 may bevaried by means of adjusting The object screws t t in capping-pieces ir. of this arrangement is to allow feed-wheel U-to give or spring upwhen coming against raised portions or ridges upon the ice, therebypreventing the teeth a of the same, as well as other portions of themachine, from being broken.

To permit the feed-wheel U to be raised off of the ice when it isdesired to propel the machine sidewise, said wheel is arranged to'turnupon an eccentric hub-piece, a, (see Fig. 5,) which may be turned. so asto raise andlower said feed-wheel by inserting a bar or lever in one ofthe holes to formed in the head at of said" eccentric piece '27.

In changing the axis of spurwheel U the wheel is first disconnected fromits holdingpiece U when the lever is then inserted in one of the holes10, and eccentric hub-piece '1) turned so as to raise the wheel as muchas desired,

IIO

and when said wheel U is to be employed for propelling the machine backand forth again bearings in frame-work E. Pawl 3 is hinged to the lowerend of lever y, and is pressed down so as to catch into ratchet-teeth 1by means of a spring, 1

A constant pressure is produced upon the under sides of pieces 51 3 inwhich the ends -of shaft 3 turns, by means of a spiral or other spring,1 Thus by turning adjusting-screws y 3 up or down (their. lower endshaving a bearing upon the top of bearingpieces 31' 3 I spur-wheels y maybe raised or lowered at pleasure.-

- The parts marked z represent the trucks or."

wheels uponwhich the machine travels. Said trucks or wheels are arrangedto revolve in the lower ends of upright pieces 2, which are looselyfitted in sockets formed in the upright parts 2 of cross-pieces e whichmay be adjusted up or down, and so as to turn,and thus allow the machineto be moved in any direction, as indicated by dotted lines z, Fig. 1, bymeans of adjusting-screws e and z, as in this instance, or in any othersuitable and convenient manner.

a z are guides, which simply serve the purpose of preventing the machinefrom traveling out of its straight and proper course by the lower ends,2 z, of said guides being inserted into the slot previously out by thesaws, as represented by dotted lines 2 Fig. 3 of the drawings. Saidguides 2 z are fulcrumed at the point z upon frame E, and are operatedby means of operating-handles z. The guides are prevented from swingingover too far in either direction by the straight parts 2 of handles zstriking against stop-pins 2, secured in frame E.

In practice, by the use of my improved machine only the first cut isrequired to be made in the usual manner now employed for cutting ice,after which the machine is then placed at one end of said out, with thelower ends, 2 z, of guides Z7 2 in aforesaid cut. The machine is'thenput in operation, and the next place to be cutis marked by marking-sawG. Then the machine is propelled laterally, so as to bring thecutting-saw into the line last marked, and that line out and anothermarked, and so on from one succeeding cut to another.

The surface of ice required to be cut up having been cut, as aforesaid,and marked by saw G in one direction, the machine is then turned aquarter-way around, so as to cut the ice into blocks or cakes, theoperation of the machine being the same as above described, exceptingthat its motion back and forth over the field of partially-cut ice willbe at right angles to its'motion in making the cuts first abovedescribed.

From theforegoing description it willbe seen that by my invention a veryconvenient, practical, and labor-saving ice-cutting machine is produced,and one which performs its office perfectly. Those skilled in the art towhich it appertains will readily understand and appreciate its practicaladvantages. It not only saves much expense by doing away with a greatportion of manual labor and labor by horse-power, which is now employedin cutting ice, but at the same time produces much more satisfactoryresults, inasmuch as by the use of guides such as are used upon themachine, and by-obtaining a strong, steady, and even propelling-power,the cakes are out much more evenly, and with greater rapidity than bythe old methods usually employed of plowing or otherwise cutting ice byhand or horse power.

It will be observed that the ice cutting and marking saws are so madethat they will out equally well when rotated either forward or back.Consequently they will cut the ice by an under and upward motion-thatis, when the machine is propelled in one direction the rotation of thesaws should be such as to have their upper parts rotate back, thuscutting the ice from under and up, and the change of rotation of, thesaws and feed-wheel maybe reversed by employing a reversiblesteam-englue.

Having described my improvements in machines for cutting ice, what Iclaim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for cutting ice, the combination, with shaft V andpropelling-wheel U, of the eccentric hub-piece o and its head 00,provided with holes 10, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with frame E of the ice-cutting machine and shaft V,carrying propelling-wheels upon an eccentric hub, of adjustable shaft H,marking-saw G, and cuttingsaw F, arranged in relation to each othersubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with marking-saw G and cutting-saw F, of a secondmarking-saw, G, and an adjustable shaft, H,operated by means ofcog-wheels and worm-gears, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

4.. The combination, with shaft H and frame E, of curved socket-pieces bb, geared segmentpieces I I, shaft T, worm-gear R, spur-gears S S,operating-crank N, and its shaft 0, provided with worm-gear Q,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with shafts H, X, and L, relatively arranged andsupported as described,0f gears W, W,W ,Y Y ,Y and Y substantial] y asand for the purposes set forth.

' 6. In an ice-machine, a frame, Y,-pivoted at one end upon the shaft V,carrying the propelling-wheels, and adjustable vertically at the otherend, in combination with shaft X, supported thereby, worm gearing-wheelsupon said shaft, and worm-wheel Y whereby shafts X and L are supportedin relation to each other as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination, with the frame E of the ice-cutting machine andcross-pieces 2 of upright parts 2 upright shafts z, trucks or wheels 2,and adjusting-screws 2 2", said parts being constructed and relativelyarranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination, with the frame E, provided with stop-pins z, ofguides z", fulcrumed at the point e and provided with operatinghandles aand downwardly-projecting parts or flanges z, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

CHARLES N. CUTTER.

